Grey and thin

newtocurls

I had stick straight, thin hair all my life. When I was a kid it wouldn't even hold a curl when my mom styled it. Sometime around the age of 35 (give or take a few years) my hair began to turn grey, and to my surprise, curly(ish). And with it came frizz😟. Now I think my hair is thinning. I can see through it when it hangs at or past my shoulders. I'm 49, more grey but not all, and can't seem to find the right, products or cut. I began experimenting with different hair products many, many years ago. Everything seems too oily, waxy, heavy, or whatever. I was told to try volumizing products, and not to use volumizing products, let it grow, don't wear it long. Uuuggghhh! I would love to hear from others experiencing the same thing. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Babyfine

I'm in the same boat as you-don't know if I will be any help.  My hair has always been very fine, was fine and abundant and had a lot of waveduring my teens and early 20's went thin and straight in my mid to late 20's.  That was the 80's so I permed, and had full looking(if not damaged and broken) hair. I had had disasterous perms and good perms, but I stopped perming around 2001 due to grey coming in and I started to color.
Surprisingly, my hair started to develop a lot more wave.  I am now 60-and my hair is about 30-40% grey and very wavy but quite thin.  I do color though, with a demi-perm color.  I hear ya on the products.  I shampoo 2-3 times a week alternating between Nioxin and a good sulfate free shampoo.  The Nioxin does have sulfates and cones if you are concerned about that.  For styling I've currently been using Deva Curl Ultra defining gel 
with B'Leave-in.

ellaj

Babyfine said:

 I shampoo 2-3 times a week alternating between Nioxin and a good sulfate free shampoo.  The Nioxin does have sulfates and cones if you are concerned about that.  For styling I've currently been using Deva Curl Ultra defining gel 
with B'Leave-in.

Hello @Babyfine. How long have you been using the Nioxin and also, do you see any difference in your hair?

I love the fact that you are 60 and have let your fine hair grow long, it is so pretty! My own hair is very fine and I am in the process of growing it longer. It is encouraging to see your avatar and read your post.

Babyfine

Thank you Ellaj!  That avatar is about 8 years old-! need to upload a new one! My hair is still about that length though, although in 2013 I cut it into an inverted should length bob hoping it would pop up my curls,it  didn't - my hair actually needs length to curl.
I think the Nioxin is great in that it makes for a healthy scalp environment, but it doesn't actually grow hair.  But I think it  has made a difference in helping my hair to stay as thick as it was(which isn't that thick) when I started using it, or to keep what I have.

bomega

Honestly, the best thing for my aging hair has been henna treatment. Colors my hair, and since I started, it made my hair silky smooth, manageable, minimized frizz. Like a magic potion.

Babyfine

I've considered henna on and off for many years.  If I didn't have grey I would go for it but grey hair is tricky with henna.  What brand of henna do you use?

ellaj

Babyfine said:

Thank you Ellaj!  That avatar is about 8 years old-! need to upload a new one! My hair is still about that length though, although in 2013 I cut it into an inverted should length bob hoping it would pop up my curls,it  didn't - my hair actually needs length to curl.
I think the Nioxin is great in that it makes for a healthy scalp environment, but it doesn't actually grow hair.  But I think it  has made a difference in helping my hair to stay as thick as it was(which isn't that thick) when I started using it, or to keep what I have.

You are more than welcome, @Babyfine.

 I have read about the Nioxin Shampoo and the reviews have always been positive. Thanks for the reply.
 

ellaj

Babyfine said:

I've considered henna on and off for many years.  If I didn't have grey I would go for it but grey hair is tricky with henna.  What brand of henna do you use?

I have never tried henna, either @Babyfine, mostly because I have heard the same as you. It always makes dark hair look so shiny and supple, though.

bomega

Babyfine said:

I've considered henna on and off for many years.  If I didn't have grey I would go for it but grey hair is tricky with henna.  What brand of henna do you use?

When my hair was about 50% gray, I started with henna, doing the "2-step henndigo" which is doing henna treatment, washing that out, then doing indigo treatment to get a black color. It is a ridiculous production (especially since it is two steps) but I am extremely happy with the color and condition of my hair.

If you have the brown hair in your avatar, doing henna will give you a sort of auburn color, which I think is lovely, but it is less tricky because there is less contrast between the henna color (which will deposit on your gray) and your brown. It will have a natural look and the effect of subtle highlights. If you don't mind an auburn color, I think you should try it. I've heard you can get various shades of brown by mixing henna and indigo in a 1-step process, but whenever I did this I just got light brown, almost no color deposit because my gray is very dye resistant. You would have to experiment to see what your hair can do.

I buy my henna from hennasooq.com and mehandi.com. If you are starting out, I would recommend going to mehandi.com, as they have great customer service and troubleshooting especially for people starting out. Their henna is more expensive but it is lab tested to be free of impurities, so you can be sure it is safe.

Babyfine

Bomega_Yes I've looked into Morrocco Method henna and Mehandi.com-for me it would be a DIY project as my stylist would not apply it.  I'm about 4 hours away from a Lush store, the closest one.  I've thought about next time I take a trip to that city-going into the Lush store as I know they apply it.
MY hair in the avatar is(colored) but  close to that color, but is colored right now with Redken Shades EQ.  MY hair now is much more grey than when that avatar picture was taken, especially in the front. 
Ellaj- I really like the Nioxin.  It does not grow hair-but I think gives the best scalp environment for hair growth.  It contains an anti-fungal and DHT blockers, in it's line-up along with botanicals.  It also does have sulfates and 'cones, though, for those who are concerned about those things.  I don't know if I have an issue with DHT or not, but at least I have it covered in the shampoo.  I switch off sometimes with a sulfate free 'poo but use the scalp treatment (step 4) with every wash. 

bomega

@Babyfine: Yeah, henna is pretty much DIY for everyone because there are very few salons that do it. Give the Lush salon a call before you go to see if going in will work for you because the way I do it, the henna has to stay in your hair at least 3 hours (longer if you want it darker), so you have to be committed to leaving it in your hair for that time, either staying there that time for them to wash it out, or leaving it in your hair for the drive, then washing yourself at home.

You might be able to find someone who does it out of their home - they usually advertise at Indian and Middle Eastern markets. It is much cheaper, and those ladies are usually really experienced with it (keeping in mind that controlling the specific color is very difficult, but getting a result that looks good/natural is very easy for an experienced henna lady.)

Babyfine

Thanks Bomega!  I also do have a fear that henna will also pull my wave/curl out.
I have seen that it could do that to loose curls/waves that are fine.

bomega

Babyfine said:

Thanks Bomega!  I also do have a fear that henna will also pull my wave/curl out.
I have seen that it could do that to loose curls/waves that are fine.

This is a valid concern. In fact, it actually did happen to me. However, when I stopped using  lemon juice for the dye release and replaced it with amla powder (25g amla/100g henna), the new growth came in good and it also helped the old flattened out curls to recover. The other thing I do to help though is now that the length is the color I want, I only henna the roots.